1. Field of the Invention
This improvement invention relates to the unique use of an Internet System in rewarding Web Site visitors who access a Web Site, with a reward of an electronic free telephone calling card (or other electronic reward debit card) or adding free long distance calling minutes to an existing calling card, or adding value to another type of existing debit card. A subset of the Electronic Phone Card System allows important and personally tailored healthcare messages to be automatically delivered to patients via E-Mail based upon information the patient supplied when visiting a particular web site. An individual's unique E-mail address is used in a security function to prevent system abuse (ie: multiple requests for a reward by one individual).
2. Description of Prior Art
Phone Cards have been in use for several years now. The cards are generally either sold to the public through retail outlets (ie: 7-Eleven, etc:) or given away by businesses as a promotional tool. One of the applicants has been engaged in this business for the past three years. Although phone cards and the Internet have both been in existence for several years, no one, prior to this invention, has seen how to tie the two together, while expanding the capabilities of both.
One of the problems with the current distribution of phone cards is that consumers have to wait to receive their cards (rewards) by mail. Occasionally consumers (after purchasing a product) have to mail in UPCs and wait 6-8 weeks to receive a card. Or consumers might perform some other function such as taking a survey, participating in a focus group, etc: and still have to wait several weeks for their phone card to be mailed to them. This delay tends to have a detrimental effect on the whole promotion. The present invention eliminates this "delay" problem and solves many others (described in the Summary of the Invention).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,128,752, 5,368,125 and 4,850,007 are examples of immediate reward systems not involving phone card rewards or other features of the invention to be described.